Arabian Society In The Middle Ages Part 6

It has already been said that our earth is the first, or highest, of seven earths, which are all of equal width and thickness and at equal distances apart. Each of these earths has occupants. The occupants of the first are men, genii, brutes, etc.; the second is occupied by the suffocating wind that destroyed the infidel tribe of Ad; the third, by the stones of Jahennem (or h.e.l.l), mentioned in the ?ur-an in these words, "the fuel of which is men and stones;"[112] the fourth, by the sulphur of Jahennem; the fifth, by its serpents; the sixth, by its scorpions, in colour and size like black mules and with tails like spears; the seventh, by Iblees and his troops.[113]

Whether these several earths are believed to be connected with each other by any means, and if so how, we are not expressly informed; but, that they are supposed to be so is evident. With respect to our earth in particular, as some think, it is said that it is supported by a rock, with which the Mountains of ?af communicate by means of veins or roots; and that when G.o.d desires to effect an earthquake at a certain place, He commands the mountain (or rock) to agitate the vein that is connected with that place.[114] But there is another account, describing our earth as upheld by certain successive supports of inconceivable magnitude, which are under the seventh earth; leaving us to infer that the seven earths are in some manner connected together. This account, as inserted in the work of one of the writers above quoted, is as follows:--The earth [under which appellation are here understood the seven earths] was, it is said, originally unstable; "therefore G.o.d created an angel of immense size and of the utmost strength, and ordered him to go beneath it [_i.e._ beneath the lowest earth] and place it on his shoulders; and his hands extended beyond the east and west, and grasped the extremities of the earth [or, as related in Ibn-El-Wardee, the seven earths] and held it [or them]. But there was no support for his feet: so G.o.d created a rock of ruby, in which were seven thousand perforations, and from each of these perforations issued a sea, the size of which none knoweth but G.o.d, whose name be exalted; then he ordered this rock to stand under the feet of the angel. But there was no support for the rock: wherefore G.o.d created a huge bull, with four thousand eyes and the same number of ears, noses, mouths, tongues, and feet; between every two of which was a distance of five hundred years' journey; and G.o.d, whose name be exalted, ordered this bull to go beneath the rock; and he bore it on his back and his horns. The name of this bull is Kuyoota.[115] But there was no support for the bull: therefore G.o.d, whose name be exalted, created an enormous fish, that no one could look upon on account of its vast size, and the flas.h.i.+ng of its eyes, and their greatness; for it is said that if all the seas were placed in one of its nostrils, they would appear like a grain of mustard-seed in the midst of a desert: and G.o.d, whose name be exalted, commanded the fish to be a support to the feet of the bull.[116] The name of this fish is Bahamoot [Behemoth]. He placed, as its support, water; and under the water, darkness: and the knowledge of mankind fails as to what is under the darkness."[117]--Another opinion is, that the [seventh] earth is upon water; the water, upon the rock; the rock, on the back of the bull; the bull, on a bed of sand; the sand, on the fish; the fish, upon a still, suffocating wind; the wind, on a veil of darkness; the darkness, on a mist; and what is beneath the mist is unknown.[118]

It is generally believed that under the lowest earth, and beneath seas of darkness of which the number is unknown, is h.e.l.l, which consists of seven stages, one beneath another. The first of these, according to the general opinion, is destined for the reception of wicked Mohammadans; the second, for the Christians; the third, for the Jews; the fourth, for the Sabians; the fifth, for the Magians; the sixth, for the Idolaters; the seventh, by general consent, for the Hypocrites. Jahennem is the general name for h.e.l.l, and the particular name for its first stage.[119]

The situation of h.e.l.l has been a subject of dispute; some place it in the seventh earth; and some have doubted whether it be above or below the earth which we inhabit.

At the consummation of all things, G.o.d, we are told, will take the whole earth in his [left] hand, and the heavens will be rolled together in his right hand;[120] and the earth will be changed into another earth; and the heavens, [into other heavens];[121] and h.e.l.l will be brought nigh to the [tribunal of G.o.d].[122]

FOOTNOTES:

[96] This notion of the seven heavens appears to have been taken from the "seven spheres;" the first of which is that of the Moon; the second, of Mercury; the third, of Venus; the fourth, of the Sun; the fifth, of Mars; the sixth, of Jupiter; and the seventh, of Saturn; each of which orbs was supposed to revolve round the earth in its proper sphere. So also the idea of the seven earths seems to have been taken from the division of the earth into seven climates; a division which has been adopted by several Arab geographers.

[97] ?ur. lxv. 12, and Mo?ammad's answers to 'Abd-Allah Ibn-Selam, quoted by Ibn-El-Wardee (MS.); and Mek?ool, quoted by the same author; and Mishkat el-Ma?abee?, ii. 652, 653.

[98] Ibn-Esh-s.h.i.+?neh (MS.).

[99] In another MS. of the same author, "yellow."

[100] In his Khi?a? (MS.).

[101] ?ur. xiii. 3, and several other places.

[102] ?ur. ii. 20, and lxxviii. 6.

[103] ?ur. lxxi. 18.

[104] Mek?ool, quoted by Ibn-El-Wardee.

[105] Wahb Ibn-Munebbih, quoted by El-Ma?reezee in his Khi?a?.

[106] Ibn-El-Wardee, however, says that its name is derived from its terrors and difficulties.

[107] [Cp. Lane's Selections from the ?ur-an, 128 ff., 2nd ed. 1879.]

[108] History of El-Khi?r in the Mir-at ez-Zeman.

[109] El-?azweenee.

[110] Mo?ammad's answers to 'Abd-Allah Ibn-Selam, quoted by Ibn-El-Wardee.

[111] El-?azweenee.

[112] ?ur. ii. 22, and lxvi. 6.

[113] Mir-at ez-Zeman.

[114] Tradition from the Prophet, recorded by Ibn-'Abbas, and quoted by Ibn-El-Wardee; and by El-Is?a?ee, in describing an earthquake that happened in his lifetime. See also the next note.

[115] In Ibn-Esh-s.h.i.+?neh, "Kuyoothan;" the orthography of this word is doubtful, as the vowel-points are not written. As the tradition is related in Ibn-El-Wardee, this bull takes a breath twice in the course of every day (or twenty-four hours): when he exhales, the sea flows; and when he inhales, it ebbs. But it must not be imagined that none of the Arabs has any notion of the true theory of the tides: the more learned among them explain this phenomenon by the influence of the moon. Many of the Arabs attribute earthquakes to the shaking of this bull.

[116] In Ibn-El-Wardee, a quant.i.ty of sand is introduced between the bull and the fish.

[117] Ed-Demeeree, on the authority of Wahb Ibn-Munebbih, quoted by El-Is?a?ee, 1. 1.

[118] Ibn-El-Wardee.

[119] [The other stages are La?a, El-?u?ameh, Sa'eer, Sa?ar, Jeheem, and ?awiyeh.

[120] ?ur. x.x.xix. 67.

[121] ?ur. xiv. 49.

[122] ?ur. lx.x.xix. 24.

CHAPTER VI.

LITERATURE.

Perhaps there are no people in the world who are such enthusiastic admirers of literature, and so excited by romantic tales, as the Arabs.

Eloquence, with them, is lawful magic: it exercises over their minds an irresistible influence. "I swear by G.o.d," said their Prophet, "verily abuse of infidels in verse is worse to them than arrows."[123]

In the purest, or Heroic Age of Arabic literature, which was anterior to the triumph of the Mohammadan religion, the conquest which the love of eloquence could achieve over the sanguinary and vindictive feelings of the Arabs was most remarkably exemplified in the annual twenty days'

fair of 'Oka?h.

The fair of 'Oka?h "was not only a great mart opened annually to all the tribes of Arabia; but it was also a literary congress, or rather a general concourse of virtues, of glory and of poetry, whither the hero-poets resorted to celebrate their exploits in rhyming verse, and peacefully to contend for every kind of honour. This fair was held in the district of Mekkeh, between E?-?af and Nakhleh and was opened at the new moon of Dhu-l-?a?deh; that is to say, at the commencement of a period of three sacred months, during which all war was suspended and homicide interdicted.... How is it possible to conceive that men whose wounds were always bleeding, who had always acts of vengeance to execute, vengeances to dread, could at a certain epoch impose silence upon their animosities, so as tranquilly to sit beside a mortal enemy? How could the brave who required the blood of a father, a brother, or a son, according to the phraseology of the desert and of the Bible,[124] who long, perhaps, had pursued in vain the murderer,--meet him, accost him peacefully at 'Oka?h, and only a.s.sault with cadences and rhymes him whose presence alone seemed to accuse him of impotence or cowardice,--him whom he was bound to slay, under pain of infamy, after the expiration of the truce? In fine, how could he hear a panegyric celebrating a glory acquired at his own expense, and sustain the fire of a thousand looks, and yet appear unmoved? Had the Arabs no longer any blood in their veins during the continuance of the fair?

"These embarra.s.sing questions ... were determined [to a great degree], during the age of Arab paganism, in a manner the simplest and most refined: at the fair of 'Oka?h, the heroes were masked [or veiled].

In the recitations and improvisations, the voice of the orator was aided by that of a rhapsodist or crier, who was stationed near him, and repeated his words. There is a similar office in the public prayers; it is that of the muballigh (transmitter), who is employed to repeat in a loud voice what is said in a lower tone by the Imam.... The use of the mask [or veil] might, however, be either adopted or dispensed with _ad libitum_; as is proved by the narratives of a great number of quarrels begun and ended at 'Oka?h....

"It was in this congress of the Arab poets (and almost every warrior was a poet at the age which I am considering) that the dialects of Arabia became fused into a magic language, the language of the ?ejaz, which Mo?ammad made use of to subvert the world; for the triumph of Mo?ammad is nothing else than the triumph of speech."[125] The ?ur-an is regarded by the Arabs as an everlasting miracle, surpa.s.sing all others, appealing to the understanding of every generation by its inimitable eloquence. A stronger proof of the power of language over their minds could hardly be adduced; unless it be their being capable of receiving as a credible fact the tradition that both genii and men were attracted by the eloquent reading of David, when he recited the Psalms; that the wild beasts and the birds were alike fascinated; and that sometimes there were borne out from his a.s.sembly as many as four hundred corpses of men who died from the excessive delight with which he thus inspired them![126] It may be added, that the recitation or chanting of the ?ur-an is a favourite means of amusing the guests at modern private festivities.

In what may be termed the Middle Age of Arabic literature, beginning with the triumph of the Mohammadan religion and extending to the foundation of the Empire of Baghdad, the power of eloquence over the educated cla.s.ses of the Arabs probably increased in proportion as it became less familiar to them: for early in this age they began to simplify their spoken language in consequence of their intercourse with strangers, who could not generally acquire the difficult, old dialect of their conquerors, which consequently began to be confined to literary compositions. That such a change took place at this period appears from several anecdotes interspersed in Arabic works. The Khaleefeh El-Weleed (who reigned near the close of the first century of the Flight), the son of 'Abd-El-Melik, spoke so corrupt a dialect that he often could not make himself understood by the Arabs of the desert. A ridiculous instance of the mistakes occasioned by his use of the simplified language which is now current is related by Abu-l-Fida. The same author adds that the father and predecessor of this prince was a man of eloquence, and that he was grieved by the corrupt speech of his son, which he considered as a defect that incapacitated him to be a future ruler of the Arabs, who were still great admirers of purity of speech, though so large a proportion of them spoke a corrupt dialect. So he sent him to a house to be instructed by a grammarian; but after the youth had remained there a long time, he returned to his father more ignorant than before. Vulgarisms, however, would sometimes escape from the mouth of 'Abd-El-Melik himself; yet so sensible was he to eloquence, that when a learned man, with whom he was conversing, elegantly informed him of an error of this kind, he ordered his mouth to be filled with jewels.

"These," said his courteous admonisher, "are things to be treasured up, not to be expended:"--and for this delicate hint he was further rewarded with thirty thousand pieces of silver and several costly articles of apparel.[127]

It may be added that this Khaleefeh was in the beginning of his reign an unjust monarch, but was reclaimed to a sense of his duty by the following means. Being one night unable to sleep, he called for a person to tell him a story for his amus.e.m.e.nt. "O Prince of the Faithful," said the man thus bidden, "there was an owl in El-Mo?il, and an owl in El-Ba?rah; and the owl of El-Mo?il demanded in marriage for her son the daughter of the owl of El-Ba?rah: but the owl of El-Ba?rah said, 'I will not, unless thou give me as her dowry a hundred desolate farms.' 'That I cannot do,' said the owl of El-Mo?il, 'at present; but if our sovereign (may G.o.d, whose name be exalted, preserve him!) live one year, I will give thee what thou desirest.'" This simple fable sufficed to rouse the prince from his apathy, and he thenceforward applied himself to fulfil the duties of his station.[128]

In the most flouris.h.i.+ng age of Arabic poetry and general literature and science, beginning with the foundation of the Empire of Baghdad and extending to the conquest of Egypt by the 'Othmanlee Turks, the influence of eloquent and entertaining language upon the character of the Arab sovereigns was particularly exemplified, as the following anecdotes will show.

It is related by El-A?ma'ee that Haroon Er-Rasheed, at a grand fete which he was giving, ordered the poet Abu-l'Atahiyeh to depict in verse the voluptuous enjoyments of his sovereign. The poet began thus:--

"Live long in safe enjoyment of thy desires under the shadow of lofty palaces!"

"Well said!" exclaimed Er-Rasheed: "and what next?"